Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, defended the administration’s tariffs on foreign automobiles, asserting that they were vital in preserving the U.S. auto industry. Miller argued that without these tariffs, the domestic industry would have vanished within a few years. He highlighted the historical dominance of the U.S. auto industry, which had once controlled the global market but has since shrunk to a fraction of its former size.
.@StephenM: "The U.S. auto industry used to control entire world... Now, of course, we've become a tiny fraction of the global market. The reason for that is because the United States opened its market to every foreign cheater... and their markets have been closed to ours." pic.twitter.com/E1a1scmdwC
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 1, 2025
Miller pointed to foreign nations, including Japan, the European Union, and South Korea, for keeping their markets closed to U.S. cars, while U.S. markets remained open to foreign imports. He credited the tariffs for making the U.S. “the most desirable market in the world” and warned that, without them, U.S. car manufacturing would have largely shifted to Mexico, despite claims that domestic production could be more cost-effective.
